This time, there was a good reason to bury the Bruin.
Posted at 11:04
Injured, their best defender, Charlie McAvoy, would miss at least the first half of the season. Ditto for Brad Marchand. At 37, their number one center Patrice Bergeron had contemplated retirement; David Krejci was about to try to plug a hole in the middle of the second row at 36 after a season in the Czech Republic.
And there was this new coach, Montrealer Jim Montgomery, on the road to redemption after being fired in Dallas in December 2019 due to his alcohol addiction.
Here we are in November, and on Thursday morning the Bruins had the best record of the National Hockey League: 9-1-0, 45 goals scored, 26 conceded.
David Pastrnak found the momentum of the good times with 18 points in 10 games, Hampus Lindholm made up for McAvoy’s loss in defense, Bergeron and Krejci are producing at a pace of one point per game, goalkeeper Linus Ullmark got off to a start phenomenal and Marchand is just back in the game …
Bruins executives, its president Cam Neely and DG Don Sweeney, work in an atypical way, but we must pay homage to their creativity.
Obviously they couldn’t have built such an interesting line-up without the altruism of their captain Bergeron, who agreed to return to the pitch for a year for a 2.5 million salary, arguably the deal of the decade in the NHL.
The acquisition of Hampus Lindholm is a good example of Neely and Sweeney’s experience. The 6-foot 4, 215-pound, 28-year-old defenders capable of playing 24 minutes per game, brilliant on offense and defense, don’t run the streets.
Lindholm would enjoy his autonomy in July. The Bruins offered young defender Urho Vaakanainen, their first-round pick in 2022 and two second-round picks, in 2023 and 2024, to the Ducks for him, then nimbly signed him an eight-year contract extension with one. annual salary of 6.5 million.
For Neely and Sweeney, a 22And overall pick (the Ducks picked Nathan Gaucher with that pick) and two round two picks were worth more than the sacrifice for a first left-back for the next eight years.
In the Bruins’ spectacular win over the Penguins on Tuesday, in which Boston cleared a 5-1 lead, Lindholm went 29:47 and had four points, including the winning goal in extra time.
Lindholm’s 11 points in 10 games is an anomaly, as he averages around thirty points per season, but this Swedish defender will be worth his weight in gold for a long time in Boston.
We also remember how the Bruins got Taylor Hall. They only traded Anders Bjork and a round two pick with the Sabers when Hall’s value plummeted.
Hall, 30, may not be the prolific striker he once was, but last year he scored 61 points and already scored five goals in ten games. His six million contract for another three years is reasonable. He allows Boston to better balance his lines.
The arrival of Pavel Zacha is another fine example of a wise acquisition. The sixth overall pick in 2015, Zacha was seen by many Devils fans as a disappointing young center. It is true that he has never produced up to expectations.
For the Bruins he was a 25-year-old center in his place in the third row, but also capable of playing a role on the offensive line, on the wing as well as in the middle. The price wasn’t exorbitant: Erik Haula, 31, 44 points last year, one of his best career productions.
Zacha started the season on the left, then just replaced the fallen Krejci in center for Hall and Pastrnak. He has six points after ten games. Maybe he can go over 40 points for the first time in his career. He would do it in 2021 for an entire season as he had 35 points in 50 games.
The creative genius of Bruins’ managers allows them to compensate for their weakness in the draft. Since Charlie McAvoy in 2016, no youngster, apart from goalkeeper Jeremy Swayman, has managed to break through the lineup for good. The Bruins, it is true, did not enter the top 15 during that stretch and were left without a choice in the first round three times out of six.
Fabian Lysell is probably their best hope. This 21And The 2021 overall pick scored nine points from seven games in its first year in the American League. She is pretty thin after him.
But if the past is a guarantor of the future, the Bruins will undoubtedly manage to find a 25, 26-year-old flagship center the day Bergeron and Krejci leave. For the moment the Quebecer does not give the impression of being a player at the end of his career.
Rectification
An early version of this article incorrectly attributed a quote about Auston Matthews to Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella. This widely distributed quote, however, came from a parody tale. Our apologies for this misunderstanding.
Do not lose
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